WITH two new cases of COVID-19 reported in Warrington in the last 24 hours following on from seven confirmed cases in two local care homes, health chiefs are urging people to do everything they can to keep families, friends and communities safe.
Cllr Maureen McLaughlin, Warrington Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Public Health:“Any increase in cases is a concern and serves as a reminder that we all need to be rigorous in our social distancing and infection control practices. It’s so important we do all we can to prevent transmission of the virus, and it’s particularly important to wear face coverings in line with the national guidance, which will provide some protection to those around you as another line of defence against the virus.
“Unless you are exempt, it is so important people protect themselves and others by wearing a face covering, keeping a distance of two metres and regularly washing their hands. We have seen people incorrectly wearing face coverings. They must cover your nose and mouth and you should only handle your mask with clean hands. We really need people to support us by doing everything they can to help keep our families, friends and communities safe.”
“All new reports of COVID-19 in Warrington are investigated, monitored and acted on by the council’s public health team and Public Health England. Where local outbreaks occur, we will always act swiftly by putting control measures in place, including in care homes – where our care providers remain proactive in ensuring that the transmission of the virus is kept low in their settings.
“We may continue to see fluctuations in the number of cases as lockdown measures ease across Warrington and we will act quickly if additional measures need to be introduced.”
Dr Richard Jarvis from PHE North West said: “We are working closely with all local authority and NHS partners across the North West to provide public health advice and help stop the spread of the virus. When suspected cases are reported to PHE, our local health protection teams provide specialist support around settings such as care homes. All care homes have been given health advice about the symptoms of coronavirus and instructed to closely monitor residents, looking out for symptoms such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing.”
A total of 1,354 people have now tested positive in the Warrington area which equates to 644.7 per 100,000 population.
Sadly the first death in nearly a month was recorded at Warrington Hospital on Wednesday.
In total, 137 people have now sadly died at Warrington Hospital although overall inpatient numbers remain in single figures.
The hospital continues to be the lowest Covid-related in-patient mortality rate for all acute hospitals in the north west.
Meanwhile the latest seven-day infection rate for the town also remains one of the lowest in the north west.
Across the UK the daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths was 98, taking the total number of deaths to 46,511.
The daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases was 871 taking the total number to 309,005.
For the latest COVID-19 information visit https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
